Holy Flying Board Erasers
by Totallyquirky
Summary: SLASH: Charlie/Colby. WARNING: Schmoop/Fluff. Charlie and Colby have a little misunderstanding.


**Holy Flying Board Erasers**

The bang of the board eraser as it hit the wall echoed around the garage as the chalk dust sprayed and swirled in the air.

"What the hell?" Colby's incredulously high voice rang out.

Charlie rolled his eyes "Colby, I'm trying to work here." gesturing at the many boards surrounding him.

The silence that followed pretty much confirmed to Charlie what kind of night he was now expecting. Colby hadn't even bothered to slam the door as he'd flounced out.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and went back to his equations. Soon enough he could hear the sound of clinking china and banging cupboard doors. He flicked on the small digital radio, _My Doorbell _was playing and hoped he that The White Stripes would ease some of the tension and drown out the moody clanging from the kitchen.

Seconds later _Enter Sandman_ filtered through. Charlie cringed, hoping his dad was still out on that date with Millie.

He could hear Colby's voice screaming along with the lyrics, particularly energetic at "Sleep with one eye open".

There was a knock on the door frame.

"What?!?" He swung round only to see his dad and older brother smirking amusedly at the door.

Don just shrugged, but his dad looked at him kindly "trouble in paradise?"

Charlie huffed, "I'll go in and tell him to turn it down."

Don chuckled, "I wouldn't if I were you, Colb's had a bit of a day and I think he needs to vent."

Charlie felt a small pang of guilt, he didn't even know what kind of day Colby had had.

Charlie smiled in thanks at Don, grateful for the small bit of advice.

Alan looked to both of his son's, "Who exactly is this?" As the song changed to _The Day that never comes_.

Charlie smiled, his hippy father had really made an effort with Colby, who at first, had found this constant father figure in his life a little hard to deal with.

"Metallica Dad."

Don was pouting and head banging slightly to the beat. "Heavy metal."

Alan shrugged good naturedly, "Sounds like someone is trying to piss of their old man."

Charlie laughed at that. "Yeah, I think you might be right about that."

Alan moved the papers and a full - now cooling - cup of coffee that sat silently mocking Charlie and his earlier behaviour, and perched on the table as Don took the battered sofa.

Charlie sighed in defeat. "I was working when he came in and he started to prattle on about a steak dinner and beer. I was trying to concentrate and I may have thrown the board eraser at him."

Neither of them said anything, the third degree interrogation in full swing.

"What? Look, I explained to him when we got together about how important my math was, and how I would need time and space to work on it." Charlie knew he was being a little uncharitable; it wasn't as if this were a regular occurrence for the couple. "When I dated Amita she got it, she would sit and help or just work on her own stuff."

Don didn't say anything and Charlie felt awful at comparing Colby and Amita, Colby was a fantastic boyfriend, he read journals in Charlie's field hoping to understand more about his partner's life work, put up with hectic schedules and hibernations in the garage. He even got Charlie out and about, Colby was currently teaching Charlie to surf, or at least to manage to stay lying flat on the board in the water.

Alan looked at him, his disapproving scowl pretty evident. "Now that's not fair Charlie."

Charlie's shoulders slumped in defeat. "I know."

_Broken, Beat and Scarred_ filtered out.

"Charlie" Alan's fatherly voice eased some of the guilt. "You can't just expect Colby to put up with being ignored for three nights in a row. You have to compromise. Amita was a very different person and look what happened to your relationship anyway."

Charlie couldn't deny that for all that they'd had in common and how well they'd gotten on, they couldn't have lasted. He had been dating himself and that was just a little weird, even for him.

"When I annoyed your mother I found it best to give her a little space to cool down and then to grovel."

Don laughed. "Glad to know who you think the woman in this relationship is Dad."

Charlie threw the stick of chalk at his brother and scowled.

"I'm not labelling anyone here. I'm just trying to point out that in a relationship you have to make a couple of sacrifices here and there. Colby needs to talk to someone too, he needs to feel important and I would imagine that after a hard day he'd like to think he has a partner to come home too."

Charlie collapsed onto his stool. "Dad, I do get that really I do, but this is important. I don't want to forget it, I have to write it down. I need to get it all down whilst it's all in there. You know, strike while the iron is hot and all that."

"And What, Colby isn't important?"

Charlie didn't need to be looking at his dad to know that there was a raised eyebrow.

"You couldn't take a thirty minute break to make him a cup of coffee and sandwich and sit and listen to his day? He isn't asking you give up the whole evening Charlie, he is asking you to have dinner, to sit and talk and actually see each other. He wants to know what your day was like and he wants to tell you about his. I don't understand where the problem is."

Charlie shrugged, "but what can I say to him to make everything ok, if he has had a bad day I can't take that away. I mean he might have shot people, how do I make that ok? He'd much prefer to talk to David, Don or Megan about that. Hell he'd probably prefer to talk to Liz and Nikki about it. At least they would understand."

Don shifted on his sit before talking. "Okay Chuck, I get it, but guess what? Colby very rarely talks to us, he laughs and jokes and you do get the odd insight into the world of Granger but ultimately, there is still a lot of stuff about Colby that we as a team have yet to work out." Don paused, thinking about his next move. "Like I'm sure when you want to talk about math problems, talking to Amita and Larry is great, they get it, they can offer suggestions, solutions arguments for and against, but when you're frustrated with one of those complex equations your always working on, or you have a break through who's the first person you want to tell? Amita and Larry? Or Colby?"

Nobody said anything.

Finally Charlie spoke. "I want to tell Colby."

Alan stepped up again. "Of course you do, 'cause Colby is in your corner. He's sad or frustrated if you are, and even if he doesn't understand what the hell you're talking about, he listens but you also know he'd do anything to get you outta that funk. If you're pleased about a break through, he celebrates with you 'cause you did it and to him that's all that matters."

Charlie was finally getting it. Don chimed in.

"Plus, you know sometimes we all just want a little attention. Maybe sometimes he feels a little forgotten."

Silence again settled over the three men in the garage as now the sounds of Bob Dylan rang out of the house, Colby clearly having discovered Alan's vinyl collection.

"Thanks guys."

"S'ok, a bit of fatherly advice never hurt and my suggestion is that you go talk to Colby soon."

Don stood. "Yup, tell you what, I'll take Dad out for a bite to eat and that leaves you and Colby some space to fight."

~~*~~

Charlie took a deep breath before entering the kitchen, the strains of _Masters of War_ floating from the living room.

As he passed the fridge he grabbed two beers and eyed the Steaks defrosting on a plate staring accusingly at them as if this were entirely their fault.

On entering the living area he found Colby sat on the rug in front of the record player, a stack of eldest Eppess' records on his lap.

Charlie coughed.

Nothing.

He stood fidgeting beside Colby. "Hey."

Colby looked up, those Hazel eyes, tired and blood shot and looking a little lost. "Hey." No dimples showed.

"Brought you a beer?"

"Thanks man." Colby took it and drank a quarter in one long swig.

Charlie sat cross legged next to the FBI agent he shared his life with. "You mad at me?"

"No." The sulky tone and pout pretty much made Colby Granger a big fat liar and a bad one at that.

"You know, for a triple, undercover, super agent you suck at lying."

A strained small smile played on Colby's young face as he studied the back of the vinyl cover.

Charlie put a tentative hand on his boyfriend's arm, relieved when the touch wasn't shrugged off.

"Your dad has some pretty cool music."

Well it wasn't much but at least there was conversation.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, my ol' man wouldn't have owned anything written by Dylan." Colby ran a caressing hand over the sleeve, thumbing the worn, soft card at the corner.

"Really? Not a fan? Dylan is country really" Charlie already knew that Colby's family were the complete opposite of his, but he treasured any insight.

"Nah. Hippy, socialist bastard he called him." Colby turned his head to look at Charlie. "Anyway we didn't even own a record player so music was pretty much out of the picture unless it was on the radio or TV."

"You didn't have a record player?" It always amazed Charlie that Colby, for all his achievements had grown up with so very little.

"Nope. We didn't have a VCR till my uncle lent us his."

Charlie kept quiet.

"_High noon_ was the only video my Daddy bought." Colby looked softer. Much different to how he usually looked when talking about his father. "When I broke my leg as a kid, it was all there was to watch so I just watched it over and over."

_A hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall _started playing, the crackle of the record emoting a feel of decades ago.

"You wanted to be Gary Cooper huh?"

"You've seen _High Noon_?"

"No but Don made me play it in the backyard when we were kids."

The moment was gone and Charlie realised that was all he was going to get for this evening. Now was the time to pony up.

"I'm sorry Colb, I didn't mean to ignore you, or assault you with the eraser earlier, it's just I was so wrapped up in my math and the problem and I'd just worked out the solution."

Colby brightened a little at that, his dimples appearing. "Hey s'it's ok." He knocked shoulders with Charlie. "It's just that sometimes you spend more time looking at those boards than you do me-" Colby grinned looking cheeky. "- and I ain't bad to look at you know."

Charlie laughed, Colby couldn't stay mad at anyone for long, he had a heart of gold and, if Charlie were honest, had a doormat tendencies when it came to friends and loyalties.

"You certainly aren't Special Agent Granger." Charlie smirked at the slight blush that ran up his boyfriend's neck. Colby may joke about his good looks but anyone else pointing them out - even Charlie - usually made the tough ex-soldier extremely uncomfortable. Charlie still laughed when he thought about the story David and Liz had told him about the Talent Agent who had flirted with his boyfriend during a stakeout.

Charlie rested his chin on Colby's shoulder, the other man turning his head to settle their foreheads together.

They stayed like that for a few minutes just taking comfort in each other, the intimate silence and the strains of the guitar settling about them.

~~*~~

"Soldier." Charlie had figured out, even before they got together, that Colby worked best with orders to follow, which had –since they _had_ got together - led to some fairly interesting and pretty hot sex. "You go and start cooking the steaks, I will go back to my boards for twenty minutes and finish up and then I will help."

Colby grinned and puckered his lips for a kiss, then jumped up with all the enthusiasm of a puppy. Charlie laughed at his partners exuberance, Colby only ever really wanted to be loved, he craved it and it gave Charlie a warm glow inside that he was the one that got the full intensity of all that Colby had to offer.

~~*~~

_**A few days later. **_

Colby had been acting suspiciously, ducking out of the office when there was a moment to spare, making furtive phone calls. Today he'd taken the morning off for a doctor's appointment although there didn't seem to be anything wrong with him apart from his very odd behaviour.

Charlie wasn't worried, well not overly concerned anyway.

He arrived home later than usual, after spending the evening marking mid-terms, Alan was sat in his arm chair a hockey game playing to itself while he studied the crossword. He smiled up at Charlie enquiring about his day, amusement written across his features.

Charlie was really too drained to play the game and so disappeared into the kitchen to grab a juice.

Seconds later he came out noticing a problem. "Where's Colby? I phoned him earlier and he told me he'd be home tonight." Charlie hoped that his boyfriend wasn't out on a raid. He'd warned Don once already about letting the young agent perform his Super!Colby routine on a regular basis.

"Out with your brother picking up beer and takeout." Alan waved a bored hand at the television as if the programming offended him.

"Oh."

At that moment laughter burst through the front door as his brother and boyfriend were discussing their latest interrogation. "-thought he was about to piss himself."

Colby wandered towards the coffee table to relieve himself of his load, Charlie tugged his partner towards him for a hello kiss, which caused Don to pull a face.

Charlie knew that Don had a little problem with the whole "How was your day honey?" routine that he and Colby had, so at the office it was all strictly business, as it should be, but at home, as far as Charlie was concerned, his home, his boyfriend, his rules, Don could suck it up.

The four of them ate dinner, joked good naturedly about the game which to be honest no one was really all that interested in and discussed the latest case.

Charlie was sure he could help and jumped up stating he had a theory turning to head to the garage. Colby flew out of his seat to the sounds of Don and Alan protesting.

Charlie turned back to face the three men, Don and his father were both pulling strange faces and were alternatively glaring and squinting at Colby, whilst his boyfriend hopped from foot to foot. "What?"

Colby rubbed the palm of his hand over the back of his neck and looked a little sheepish.

Charlie crossed his arms across his chest and drew back his shoulders copying the stance that his partner and brother used in interrogations. "Come on."

Colby straightened. "Okay, this was meant to be a little more of a surprise but come with me." Colby led the way to the garage, Don made to follow Charlie but Alan stopped him, shaking his head.

Charlie entered the room, at first he couldn't understand what was wrong, he thought perhaps Colby had accidently rubbed against one of the boards erasing a line of the equations, but then he took in the environment a little more, his boards, all still in order had been moved, to make room for the far wall, a wall that was now home to three electronic maker boards.

Charlie was stunned, and a little overwhelmed at Colby's thought and present, he didn't catch that Colby had begun talking.

"- they roll too, so it's like three boards in one, which is more than your two sided chalk boards, and I thought that you know instead of having to copy it all down into your book once you've got it right, this way you can just print a copy saving time. And then 'cause it's easier to print and everything you'll be able to work on it if you ever have time in between cases and lectures. So you know when you come home you won't always have to be out here."

Charlie knew that Colby was well aware that he was babbling, and he was also well aware that he could stop his partner from suffering an aneurism but a less than cool, calm and collected Colby was a little too adorable for words.

He looked at the worried and slightly pale face of his boyfriend and decided to put him out of his misery.

Charlie walked over to stand chest to chest with Colby who was still looking slightly nervous. "This is what you've been doing?"

Colby didn't answer.

"All the phone calls? The dashing out of the office? The "doctors" appointment. It was all to arrange this?"

Colby still didn't say anything, but he did nod.

"Well there is only one thing left to do then." Charlie raised his arms so they rested on Colby's shoulders and closed behind his neck, his partner slowly exhaled in relief.

"Thank you." Charlie murmured before kissing Colby.

The pair pulled away to draw in a much needed breath when Charlie had a thought, "What am I going to do with all this time the boards are saving me?"

Colby smiled devilishly, "That is why you're with a brilliant strategist, I'm sure I can think of something."

**The End. **


End file.
